Tea without sugar is fruity and pleasant, though not as strong as I would have expected from the smell.

Adding a bit of sugar kicks up the flavor, but adds some astringency, as well.

Tea Rating: 3/5

A warning: this post is a product of some frustration I have been feeling for some time. As such, it is not as positive as is my usual mode.

Yesterday I came across a video that I will not share here or even name because of how much it frustrates me.

The gist of it was a group of Native Americans, men and women, asking questions of white people. I clicked on it because I thought it might be funny, maybe asking about weird cultural differences in our own country.

It wasn’t.

It was a video of people attacking other people. Again.

Now, I would never say that white privilege does not exist, nor would I say that I do not myself benefit from it.

But, there’s still a fundamental issue here. Making blanket statements or accusations is not OK, no matter who it is aimed at.

It’s not accurate, or fair, or funny whether we’re talking about white people or black or Native Americans or whoever.

You respond to aggression with more of the same kind of aggression and you expect things to change?

I have to wonder if anyone is really after equality, or if what people are really after is to crush white people like they themselves have been crushed in days past.

Maybe I just came across this at the wrong point in my week, maybe I’m just feeling attacked because I’m a white girl myself.

But maybe not.

With this kind of attitude, we’re never going to get anywhere, we’re just going to end up with a new majority that thinks it’s perfectly justified to be there and be hateful to those outside of it.

This kind of thing is just a perpetuation of the way things are right now. It’s not a forum where other voices can be heard, leaves no room for discussion. Just another attack that will lead to more of the same.

It’s frustrating, and I bet it is for anyone else who wants actual equality in their lifetime.

An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind, but it’s easier to be angry than it is to be open. I get that, kindof. To be open to other viewpoints is to be vulnerable, and vulnerable is scary.

As far as I am concerned, though. It’s the right kind of scary. We should challenge the way we think, the way we respond to anger, aggression and negativity. We should take a hard look at ourselves and how we do things, how what we do is impacting others.

Saying “why all you people (insert race here) do this (insert stereotype here)” is not going to accomplish that.

Not today, not tomorrow.

So what’s the point?

“Aristotle’s axiom: The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”
― Laurence J. Peter, Peter’s People and Their Marvelous Ideas